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EA announced it has acquired Respawn Entertainment. The mega-publisher bought the Titanfall developer for over $400 million after outbidding South Korean publisher, Nexon. This news comes just weeks after EA shut down Visceral Games.

“We started Respawn with the goal to create a studio with some of the best talent in the industry, and to be a top developer of innovative games,” said Vince Zampella, CEO of Respawn Entertainment in a press release. “We felt that now was the time to join an industry leader that brings the resources and support we need for long term success, while still keeping our culture and creative freedom. EA has been a great partner over the years with Titanfall and Titanfall 2, and we’re excited to combine our strengths. This is a great next step for Respawn, EA, and our players.”

“We’ve seen firsthand the world-class caliber of Respawn as a development studio with incredible vision, deep talent and an inspiring creative mindset,” said Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts. “Our longtime partnership is grounded in a shared desire to push the boundaries and deliver extraordinary and innovative new experiences for players around the world. Together, we’ve brought this to life in the Titanfall franchise, and now with the Respawn team joining EA, we have exciting plans to accomplish even more amazing things in the future.”

Respawn was founded in 2010 by ex-Call of Duty designers Vince Zampella and Jason Ward. The studio released Titanfall in 2014 as an Xbox One exclusive. The multi-platform Titanfall 2 launched in late 2016. Though critically praised, the sequel failed to make an impact sales-wise — no doubt because it launched around the same time Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and EA’s own Battlefield 1 dropped.

As per the agreement, EA will buy Respawn for $151 million in cash, and up to $164 million in long-term equity over the next four years. Respawn will receive bonuses for achieving “certain performance milestones” for some of its upcoming titles through the end of 2022. These bonuses are tied directly to Metacritic scores for the studio’s in-development Star Wars game and the unannounced Titanfall 3. EA’s acquisition of Respawn is expected to be finalized by the end of 2017 or sometime shortly thereafter.

According to Kotaku‘s Jason Schreier, the website knew about EA buying Respawn last week but decided to hold off on reporting until they were “100% sure.” It appears Nexon’s attempt to buy Respawn is what spurred EA to buy the studio. EA had 30 days to match the South Korean publisher’s offer, which they did. Nexon is the publisher behind the Titanfall mobile game.

Schreier also posted a timeline of events on Twitter.

Sequence of events:
1) Nexon makes offer for Respawn, per documentation sent to Kotaku
2) EA has first right of refusal, per documentation, and can make an offer
3) EA shuts down Visceral Games
4) EA announces that it has bought Respawn